Sunningdale Golf Club

The Sunningdale Golf Club is a prestigious golf club based in Sunningdale, Berkshire, England, approximately 50 km west of London.

The Sunningdale Golf Club was founded in 1900 and has two eighteen-hole golf courses: the Old Course, designed by Willie Park, Jr. and the New Course, designed by Harry Colt, which opened in 1923.

The Old Course

The Sunningdale's Old Course was designed by two-time Open Championship winner Willie Park Junior, and opened in 1901. The land on which it was built belonged to St. John's College, Cambridge and consisted mainly of heather, gorse and pines. There were no shops, no train station, or Ridgemount Road, just a bridle path that ran through the property.

Willie Park Junior, was consulted and commissioned to design a course of unique character, for the price of £ 3. It was praised by all and was one of the first courses to be successful in a remote area of ​​the coast as many believed turf would not grow well in such areas.

Park Jnr had an excellent putting and this is reflected in his layout, with many large, undulating greens that use the natural topography, the greens at the Old Course can often surprise more than one. Park Jnr favored transverse and visual obstacles, examples of which can be seen across the course, with bunkers, ditches and heather beds that structure many holes.

Thanks to Park Jnr's design, the Old Course has stood the test of time and even today with the advancement of modern technology, the course remains a challenge for longer hitters. Harry Colt contributed to the layout of the course and made some judicious changes to the design of Park Jnr, including moving the 4th, 7th and 12th greens to make the course more complex.

Bobby Jones had a great affection for the Old Course. In 1926, in qualifying for the Open Championship (which he won at Royal Lytham and St. Annes), Jones scored 66-68.

Many other amateur and professional events took place on the old Course, including the World Professional Match Play, the European Open, the Women's Open, the Walker Cup… and more recently, the Senior Open Championship in 2009, 2015 and coming in 2020.

The Old Course is today considered one of the greatest courses in the world and is regularly found in the top 30 of the world rankings.

The New Course

The new Sunningdale course was designed by famous architect Harry Colt and opened in 1923. It was inaugurated after the end of World War I as membership numbers quickly replenished and transport to the Club grew. easier with the development of the automobile.

The New Course is considered the most rugged, with fewer bunkers and trees than its predecessor. Narrow and winding fairways, bordered by dense rough which delimit the fairways towards the small often raised greens.

The course on which the New Course was built was, since 1911, a 9-hole course of an independent club, known at the time as Sunningdale Heath and often referred to as the "driver's course" or "nine 'ole. ". After experiencing financial difficulties during the 1914-18 war, it was taken over by the main club, where it continued to operate, until in 1921, a proposal from the "Green Committee" to extend this 9-hole course to one of the 18 holes, be approved. Harry Colt was consulted and his plans, costing £ 8000 plus fees, were approved. Le Nouveau Parcours, opened on November 10, 1923.

Over the years, the New Course has proven its worth in every championship, with many top players having played on its fairways. Gary Player, former Dunlop PGA 90-Hole Tournament winner, returned in 2000 to play Jack Nicklaus as part of the club's centenary celebrations. Nicklaus won.

The Sunningdale New Course is considered to be the best course in the UK and is consistently at the top of many golf ranking lists as the Old Course.